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Football Championship 2026 - 3 Like(s)
Replying To BarneyGrant: "Dublin certainly feared Galway at that stage. Was third clash that year.
I thought manager got short straw before Joyce came in. Took a lot of flak but was going right way. Took a few years for PJ to get back to that level?" Agreed on Kevin Walsh.
We were heading for D3 when he took over. I remember Laois hammering us by 10 points at one stage. We were a joke of a team. Teams loved playing us and players in Galway would not commit. Mayo hammered us 4-16 to 0-11 in 2013. That was our lowest.
Kevin took over and brought us back to the top table. He made us serious again. Structures, S&C etc. He had probably reached the end of the road when he left. Managers have a shelf life.
We lost a game in Limerick to Mayo, and he took disgraceful abuse from a section of fans. The man gave his heart and soul to the county as a player and manager. He got to the top as a player. As a manager he brought us a certain distance, but people forget how bad we were.
His style of play probably wouldn't bring us the next step, but I for one will always be grateful to him. He took us on when no one would.
Mayonman (National) - 25/06/2026 14:03:07
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Galway Football thread - 3 Like(s)
My heartfelt condolences to all in Galway GAA on the passing of Paul Clancy.
He was a tough footballer who played the game with class.
Following his playing career, by all accounts, he was exactly the kind of person every GAA club and county needs, doing hard work behind the scenes for the next generation.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
Lockjaw (National) - 25/06/2026 16:29:06
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Donegal GAA thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To shaggykev: "I agree with James Horan. Mental fatigue. Three years at high intensity and there's no doubt Jim has made mistakes.
Pundits and fans tend to twist every word out of his mouth and turn it into a story. When you actually listen to most press conferences in full, he always is complementary of opposition, gives his assessment and then a line is taken out proportion.
Now I would concede his point about scheduling makes no sense. Donegal had a brilliant opportunity this season compared to our 11 championship games last season.
We blew it by getting caught by Cork when we were cruising until 45 minute mark and suddenly found ourselves in a game and gone.
Dubs feasted on a carcass on Sunday. Like I said, without our half backs blitzing with pace, Donegal become a very ordinary side.
This one is going to hurt. Jim has a lot to learn for next season if he goes again. Maybe he can convince MM to be a super sub, maybe he can give some of the lads burnt out a good 8-9 months to come back near end of the league. Maybe he can find the raw ingredients in some overlooked places like getting Malone this season. Or maybe hes ran out of road and he's merely paused our drop back into the pack which is now going to come like it was coming in 2023 before he saved us." What about discipline ,on the pitch?
Murphy equalizer to force extra time should have seen him turn and fist pump the Donegal support who would give the team a standing ovation and head for the dressing room leaving a deflated Dublin. Instead he got involved in stupid handbag stuff with Kilkenny who would not be regarded as a protagonist , riled up the Dubs and spent 10 minutes in the bin
eoinog (National) - 25/06/2026 12:34:27
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Leitrim GAA thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To bláthach: "going where please? Are they joining a breakaway group or what do you mean by this please so millions?" Very tough on Donal Casey having to retire from all football at just 24. Good interview with him in observer. Best wishes to him
JimmyNail (National) - 25/06/2026 14:32:46
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Leitrim GAA thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To JimmyNail: "Very tough on Donal Casey having to retire from all football at just 24. Good interview with him in observer. Best wishes to him" Jeasus that is a rough one, but the alternative is bleak. A lucky man to be even standing up straight. Hopefully he will get into coaching and focus on that, god knows Leitrim needs every lad available to keep the game alive in the county.
Square_B (National) - 25/06/2026 15:18:52
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Football Championship 2026 - 1 Like(s)
It'll be a tough outing this weekend and I can't see much in it either way. Decision making in the last 10 will be crucial. We're not in the habit of beating Dublin in championship football and I think this one will go the wire. Dublin got a lot of joy last year from POCB on D'Arcy and they mopped up a lot of breaks. Ciarán Kilkenny was given the freedom of Pearse Stadium last year. We can't let him dictate like he did.
D'Arcy was exceptional against Westmeath, but he'll be up against a very different challenge on Sunday. We need to make sure we have plenty options for Gleeson.
If we can dominate around the middle, I think our forwards will take advantage. As we've seen all year though, momentum can swing massively in games. Even if we're a good few scores ahead, it's very unlikely the game will peter out comfortably.
At the end of the week where we lost a true legend of Maigh Cuilinn and Galway football, but more importantly a very good man, it would be a nice tribute in some way to Paul Clancy if we can get the job done. Sincere condolences to his family and all who were close to him.
Thug sé cuimhní dúinn a mhairfidh linn go deo. Suaimhneas síoraí dhá anam.
WanPintWin (National) - 26/06/2026 10:57:42
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Dublin GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
You expect Galway to win essay. Comer , Welsh, Tierney and Lar Finnerty flying it.
hlynch12 (National) - 26/06/2026 08:54:07
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Monaghan GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
With one leg Rory will play. Maybe half a leg. Such nonsense thinking he wouldn't be available despite sprinting off the pitch and down the tunnel last week with 4 minutes remaining.
farneygael3 (National) - 25/06/2026 23:32:55
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Donegal GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To eddieSize5Balls: "Being serious here, and this goes for everyone else who sees this comment. Can you name the players around the county that should be in the panel and who can help in big games?
I can only think of Niall O'Donnell.
I'm sure there's more but would like to know." I feel like Ethan Harkin would have been a good player to have in and around the panel.
McFadden Ferry and Ordhran Doherty also although I know they opted out.
From the season as a whole its a sore one to take when you consider in hind sight we got the league all wrong.
Monaghan and Tyrone could barely win a game and both are 1 game from a Semi Final which for Monaghan is actually highly likely.
I feel so bad for the lads there because we definitely left an all Ireland behind us in the last few years and to go again will be tough.
naomh_conaill_4 (National) - 25/06/2026 20:29:39
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Donegal GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To sligo joe: "Absolutely at each team's best on Sunday Donegal were beaten because Donegal's best was second best on the day, that is a big part of how a team's best is judged, how they perform on the big knock out stage.
Hypothetical results that a Donegal team of 24 or 25 might or might not have achieved, like Miley in Glenroe would say "Oh holy God".
I hope those fantasy football results are a comfort to you lol." One of the worst championship games I was ever at, really poor fare from both teams, poor execution of basic skills, kicking, handpassing from both teams. Lots of unforced errors.
Galway would have beaten the pick of both teams. I think Galway will beat dubs comfortable
totalrecall (National) - 25/06/2026 20:29:36
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Galway Football thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To Flemenstar200: "What you think Kickitout? Any word on Thompson ankle I hear he back running 2/3 weeks ago" Thompson being back running last 3-4 weeks I can't see many changes next day if Thompson is fit I' personally would start him and get as long as possible out of him it be better than bringing him as I think we have lots of game changer to come in , comer , McGrath, o Laoi Flahery the most area that would concern me is our lack of real pace at 5 and 6 u need to pin dubs back I'd definitely like see maybe o Laoi or flaherty coming into half back line after 50 mins , one thing that won't work v dubs is if Galway load one side field for our own kickouts in reality it servers no purpose and last 2 matches in particular Galway in fairness have moved away from that , need keep Darcy , Tierney Maher separated on our own kickouts and maybe even try hit Mcdaid at times in the centre forward Chanel , match ups are big thing dubs have good inside forwards need keep Glynn , Hernon and silke in full back area at all times they our best man markers , also need stop Kilkenny and scully from supplying them u stop them at source u win match im Galway forwards will give Dublin plenty to think about also , Finnerty needs good game has gone off it a bit this year bar Kildare match , and we definitely need cut out kicking ball in goalie hands its killing us decision making will win this game
Kickitout (National) - 25/06/2026 16:53:13
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Donegal GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To sligo joe: "Well if you look at the post I replied to and other posts that keep going on about a tired Donegal not being themselves, then yes I am of course selecting points that show Dublin also had problems to surmount on Sunday, there is a dominant line in many posts here suggesting that if Donegal wasn't tired they would have won, smacks a little bit of arrogance and is tiresome.
I am just pointing out that all teams have issues to address as the season goes on, sometimes a team can be unlucky on the day but that was not the case on Sunday." It's not arrogance to think we can play better than the last two weeks. We're Donegal supporters so obviously we're going to look at our lads and think about how they're doing
Dublin had a great plan for us and frankly made us look predictable. Even with that we pushed all the way although Dublin had their own problems. If the shooting boots were on yous would have won very handily I think.
Anyway I don't know why you're going looking for Donegal opinions to be annoyed at. Like you say everyone in person congratulated you and well done the Dubs. Are we supposed to just continue posting that or can we not think about what went wrong for us this year? Saying the squad looked off it or tired or something wasn't right, all that is Donegal people only talking about Donegal, not a comment on the Dubs.
CCFabu (National) - 25/06/2026 16:26:41
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Key Skills Of Football - 1 Like(s)
Kerry place a limit on the number of plays on all players playing U14 - across the board.
That creates an obvious instinct to look up and pass the ball as soon as you receive it - maybe even before it.
National policy is to only apply that limitation to GO Games and I would wager that the majority of counties just about stick to that.
Certainly in Mayo, there is no appetite to follow Kerry - underage county teams in Mayo tend to favour the solo runner. Hence a Mayo player will solo run into space and look to pass when under pressure - you rarely see a Mayo intercounty player look up and kick the ball as their first option.
I would personally love to see Mayo ban the solo run up to U14, even U16.
But a Mayo man invented the solo run and its so imbedded in the football culture that Mayo will have to lose another 10 All Irelands to change that. The curse in Mayo wasn't on the 1951 team - the curse is the overuse of the solo run.
Sure copying the most successful football counties ideas couldn't possibly be a good idea!
tirawleybaron (National) - 25/06/2026 14:14:08
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Longford GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Looks like the County Board PR team has entered the chat!
Previous Competition Structures
LongfordgaaAbú, yes groups have been done before, but at the end of the group phase the top team, or top two teams, in each group would play off in a final or semi finals to decide the winner. So if you beat the team that beat all of the other teams in the other group it was fair enough to say that you were the best team in the competition.
A bit like the current Champions League Model, Longford also ran an open draw senior championship for a number of years where teams were drawn randomly and results were aggregated into one table, but this was to decide which teams would reach the quarter finals, not who would win the competition. It wasn't a great system, but you would have had to get an extremely bad draw not to make the quarter finals if you really deserved to. So there isn't that much wrong with the open draw part of it.
This Year's Structure:
However, I don't think there is any other sporting competition in the world where groups aggregate into a league table and THEN there is an extra open draw into further groups feeding into the same league table, where some teams play each other twice and some teams don't play at all. For example, Ballymore have gotten 5 or their 7 points from beating Ballymahon twice and Dromard have gotten 5 of their points from beating Killoe Green twice. If you can name another competition like this in any sport in the world then I take my hat off to you!
It would be one thing if the top four played off to decide who was promoted, but the fact that it's the table topping team who gets promoted gives this competition absolutely no integrity. Another poster said Dromard was always going to win the competition, if so, why did their county players need to break ranks and play for them? All clubs have issues with player availability and make the best of it. Why didn't they?
Could you imagine a Champions League where teams can't play international players for most of the games? Where Barcelona have two teams in the competition? Where Real Madrid top the table and win the competition by getting to play Slavia Prague twice and recall Mbappe and the lads from their countries in the middle of the competition when it looks like they are going to lose a game? That is actually a less crazy version of what happened in Division 2 this year.
Killoe White and Green
No fault in this lies with Killoe. I'm not sure they had a choice on whether or not they wanted to be promoted. Fair play to them being able to field two competitive teams in Division Two, but even if they played the first game against each other it still creates issues because they can transfer players from their Green team to their White team as they did in their last game against the Gaels. If the Green team finds themselves near the bottom of the table towards the end of the competition, they can transfer the stronger players onto the White team, so some clubs (without their county players) would get to have to play a strong Green team at the start, some would get to play a weak Green team at the end, and vice versa for the White Team.
If they absolutely positively had to be in the same division then yes a full league where everyone plays each other, with both Killoe teams playing each other first, would have been preferable. Or simply stick to the groups and play a double round of fixtures (one round with county players) with the teams who topped the group playing in the final to decide promotion.
I'm sure the argument was that there wasn't enough time to play 5 group games with county players (probably because Dromard and Ardagh are in the Senior Championship and that starts three weeks earlier than the Intermediate Championship on July 18th) but there is still going to be a four team relegation playoff with three further games for some teams, two of these likely being the Killoe Teams. So some teams are going to play 11 games in this competition anyway.
What Next?
This experiment has totally failed. The competition structure is crazy, it creates chaos trying to organise all of these fixtures for Killoe, and it hasn't even benefitted them! A strong Killoe White team could have been pushing for a top four place. Now it's looking likely that both Killoe Teams are going to be in the relegation zone, so the whole exercise of keeping them apart was completely pointless and you could even end up having two Killoe Teams in Division 3 next year.
"All teams got plenty of games" is a completely out of touch take. All club players in Longford deserve to play in fair, meaningful, and well organised competitions where they know their fixtures in advance and none of that happened this year in Division 2 due to the structure designed by the county board.
fixlongfordgaa (National) - 25/06/2026 13:37:14
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Donegal GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To TrueBlue35: "Would your alternative tactically approach involve a change of either manager/coach/selectors or all of the above? Just curious if you think Jim's time is up? I've heard a few disenting voices since the weekend which is the first time I've heard him questioned so would be curious to know if you'd give him another year or not." County board should be talking to the senior players to ensure they are happy to continue under Jim. If there are dissenting voices that would be a serious concern.
However overall it's Jim's show and he should decide first and foremost whether he wants to continue. Our board are useless in general.
Jim does need help. He needs to get a world class s&c expert that can help the guys not just get fit, but can massively reduce hamstring injuries and still maintain explosive speed. Maybe someone from the athletics world.
I'd also love to see him get help on in game management and tactical adjustments. Jim is one of the only coaches that's not micced up either as he does not trust his lieutenants or doesn't have the support of men who can give him that nugget from the stands. Hard to see full game on sideline.
shaggykev (National) - 25/06/2026 13:26:09
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Football Format Changes Discussion - 1 Like(s)
Replying To tirawleybaron: "The GAA supporter and administrator seems to hate league as a format - but I do think there is merit in the idea of a league championship format
Play provincials first - league system as per U20 championships - finals on May Bank Holiday.
Connacht - 2 groups of 3 (Group 1 - Roscommon/Mayo/galway) - (group 2 - Sligo/Leitrim/London) - Winner group 1 plays winner group 2 in semi - 2nd and 3rd in group 1 play each other in other semi
Munster - 2 groups of 3 (Group 1 - Kerry/Cork/Clare) - (group 2 - Tipp/Limerick/Waterford) - Winner group 1 plays winner group 2 in semi - 2nd and 3rd in group 1 play each other in other semi
Ulster - 3 groups of 3 (Group 1 - Armagh/Donegal/Monaghan) - (group 2 - Tyrone/Derry/Down) - (Group 3 - Cavan/Fermanagh/Antrim) - top 2 in group 1 goes to semis - 2nd Group 1 plays winner group 3 in qfinal - 3rd group 1 plays winner group 2 in qfinal
Leinster - 3 groups of 3/4 (Group 1 - Dublin/Westmeath/Louth) - (Group 2 - Meath/Kildare/Offaly/Wicklow) - (Group 3 - Laois/Wexford/Carlow/Longford) - top of group 1 goes to semis - 2nd Group 1 plays 3rd group 2 in qfinal - 3rd group 1 plays rd group 2 in qfinal - winner group 2 v 2nd group 3 in qfinal.
finalists in every province gets auto entry into All Ireland and has more home matches
All Ireland - Sam Maguire, Tailteann cup and Tommy Murphy Cup
Sam Maguire - starts mid May - 10 best teams from previous years (adjusted if necessary by provincial finals) + Tailteann cup finalists
3 x groups of 4 - repeat of provincial matches avoided (Group 1 - Galway/Armagh/Cork - Group 2 -Roscommon/Kerry/Donegal - Group 3 Westmeath/Monaghan/Louth- Group 4 Mayo/Tyrone/Dublin)
3 matches each - provincial finalists get 2 home matches and 1 away.
Best 2 Group winners into All Ireland qfinal v Tailteann finalists - other group winner + 3 x 2nd place into qfinals
bottom team in each grop into relegation play offs
Qfinals @ End june
Tailteann cup - (Meath/Down/Cavan/Kildare/Leitrim - Offaly/Wicklow//Clare/Derry/Fermanagh) - start May Bank holiday
2 groups of 5
Group winners in qfinals v Tier 3 finalists
R up's play 3rd place in qfinals
Semi finals in Mid june
Final played after Tailteann finalists eliminated from All Ireland - mid july - Saturday before Hurling final
Bottom in each group relegated
Tommy Murphy cup - (Tipp/London/Limerick/Carlow/Longford - Antrim/Sligo/Waterford/Laois/Wexford) - starts Mid April
2 groups of 5
Best Group winner into semis - other plays NY in q final at home
Group Rup into q finals - home draw v 3rd place from other group
Semi finals June bank Holiday
Final played after finalists are eliminated from Tailteann Cup - curtain raiser to Hurling semi" What GAA supporter hates the league as a format? People here have been championing it for weeks now.
Tadhg2020 (National) - 25/06/2026 13:00:49
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Galway Football thread - 1 Like(s)
Very sad news about Paul Clancy. A lot of mention has been on his superb pass to Meehan in the 2000 replay but his point against Armagh in 2001 qualifier was arguably just as good if not more important. I vividly remember celebrating that point with my father at home when he put it over and it was a crucial moment on the way to going one step better later that summer.
As has been mentioned already, he was superb club man for Mhaigh Cuilinn and will not only be a huge loss for the club, but indeed football across the county. I sincerely hope the lads knock over a few two pointers in the same manner he did against Armagh on Sunday in tribute to his memory.
FallenStar (National) - 25/06/2026 12:39:33
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Donegal GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To sligo joe: "Donegal were playing a Dublin team that are completely in transition, basically a development project under a new manager. A new manager that has been sidelined for 12 weeks up to just 8 days b4 this game. A rebuilding Dublin team with key players like Con, Basquel, Gannon, Murchan, O'Cofaigh Byrne, Costello, Bugler all under the shadow of injury, a fine performance by a Dublin team that had many more reasons to under perform than Donegal had. But "hey" Donegal were tired!" You really are suiting yourself with this post.
I'll give you another angle. That Dublin team had 10 starters who won an All-Ireland U21 title. Given Dublin haven't won at U20/U21 level since 2017, those players are now at least 29 or 30, with the likes of Kilkenny and Scully a bit older again. Sunday's team was built around huge experience and, more importantly, winning experience. With 10 starters carrying that age profile and pedigree, it's simply not accurate to describe Dublin as a team that is "completely in transition".
It's probably more accurate to say it's a team that has finally got its best players on the field together at the same time. In fact, it's arguably closer to a last hurrah than a transition team. Let's see where the transition talk is when those 10 players eventually hang up their boots.
As for the management side, Dessie Farrell, Brian Dooher and Fergal Logan, Jim Gavin, Jack O'Connor (three times), Mickey Harte and Joe Kernan all won All-Irelands in their first year in charge. That's another reason why the transition narrative can be overstated, particularly when it comes to a county like Dublin.
Dublin for Sam is what you should be thinking.
Ulsterchamps_32 (National) - 25/06/2026 12:39:33
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